Runaway
by imaginationisbetterthanlogic
Summary: "'Tempe! What are you doing here' 'Hi, Rick.'" Castle gets an unexpected guest that happens to be an old friend of his that it's in a lot of trouble. Castle/Bones crossover. Set after both finales. Spoilers for both shows.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Castle or any of their characters.

Castle was getting the dinner ready for when Kate come home. She had went for lunch with her dad and had been gone all day. It was stupid how much he had missed her.

He putted the lasagna in the oven just when someone knocked on the door. He smiled to himself andrushed to the door.

When he opened the door his smile fell and was replaced by a stunned expression.

"Tempe! What are you doing here?"

"Hi, Rick."

Castle could only look at her dumbfounded. And that's when he saw the baby that was sound asleep on a stroller beside Tempe.

_Oh, this can't be good. Not good at all._

Temperance was still outside his door looking at him. She looked tired, and kept looking behinde her shoulder like she was running from something. Like a ghost was behinde her, ready to get her as soon has she let her guard down.

He blinked away his surprise and stepped aside.

"Come on in." he invited.

Brenna looked relifed and took hand of the stroller, guiding it inside the loft.

_Now when did that happened?_ Castle thought.

It had been awhile since the last time he saw her. A long while.

"I'm sorry if I interrupted your evening, Rick. I need a place to stay. Would you mind if I stayed with you?"

"No, not at all. For how long?"

"I don't know." she seemed uncomfortable. But this was Tempe and she never asked for help, so something was definitly going on.

"Well, I think I never heard you say you didn't knew something." he joked. Brennan stared at him blanckly.

_Of course, we're talking about Tempe. She don't do jokes._ He had almost forgotten how litteral Brenna could be.

"I'm making lasagna. Do you want some?"

"Yes, I haven't eaten for a while."

Rick glanced at the baby in the stroller. His brain was overflowding with the questions he wanted to ask her. But before he could do that he had to get ride of the awkwardness between them. He had to make her comfortable, get her to relax.

"Do you want something to drink?" he offered.

"Watter, please."

Rick went to the kitchen and got a glass of watter. When he turned around, Tempe was right behinde him. Whatever was going on got her to be very afraid. He had to figure out what was going on. She was like a sister to him.

"Are you in trouble, Tempe?"

"Yes. I think I might need your help."

"Okay. I'm here for you Tempe. You know that, right?" she nodded. "Now, you need to sit down and tell me what happened, okay?"

"Yes. You don't need to baby me, Rick." she warned.

"Talking about baby. When did that happened?" he said pointing to the baby in the stroller.

"This is Christina. She's my daughter."

"And the father?" Brennan's lip started quivering despite herself. She suck in a breath and tried to speack.

"I-I had to leave him."

"Oh, Tempe... He don't know where you are? Who's he?"

"Special Agent Seeley Booth." she bit her lip to hold the tears that threatened spill at any moment. It wasn't rational to cry. It was useless and it wouldn't help at the current situation.

"Booth. You're partner, Seeley Booth?"

"Wasn't I clear about that?" she was doing what she always did. Putting her armor that was made of rationalism and facts. The one that she used and made people describe her as beeing cold and distant. A robot. Rick knew her from the times when she was in foster care. He had been her knight in shiny armor for a while. But then he had to move to another city and they lost contact. They had met again in a writers convention. Of course they reminded eac other. Each one had followed the other trough the media. Since that writer's convention, almost eight years ago they had restaured contact. Sending e-mails, the occasional phone call and meeting for drinks. But then Rick had embraced this shadowing thing with such frevor that the time he had left was for his family and writting. Only on the summers, they reconect. Normaly because Rick had pissed the detective that he had been shadowing off and she kicked him out of her princinct. But they haven't seen each other for about two years. Each one had their lives and demanding careers.

"Come on, Tempe. I know you. You don't have to get all rational on me." Rick putted a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Let's go to the couch. You seem ready to colapse. I can't have you passing out on me. Have you eaten? You look like you haven't eaten in awhile." Rick guided her to the couch and sat her down. He had to figure out what was going on. He had never seen Tempe so scared. But first it might be better to get her to rest and eat something.

"Tempe-" he heard a knock on the door.

_Kate._

Brennan's head turned quickly torwards the sound and her eyes got wide with fear.

Whatever was going on was pretty serious. Rick putted a hand on her shoulder.

"It's just Kate. My patner. I told you about her, remember?" she nodded and turned to her daughter with a look of relief.

Rick got up and opened the door to a beaming Kate.

"Hi!" she said.

"Hey, listen-" he didn't get a chance to finish the phrase. She was all over him. Her mouth pressing against his demanding and happy, her hands all over. For a second Rick forgot about Tempe sitting on the couch. Hell, he forgot his own name. The only thing on his mind was carrying Kate to his room and do to her what he had been waiting all day.

But Tempe scoffed and broke the spell that Kate had cast on him. She pushed herself off of him and looked at the woman on the couch, then back at him. Her cheeks were flushed and her lips slightlt swolled.

"Hmm... Hi. I'm Kate."

"Hello, pleasure to meet you Kate. Rick told me a lot about you. I'm doctor Temperace Brennan."

"Hmm... pleasure to meet you too." Kate glared at Rick that seem a bit desorientated. She pulled his arm down. "You could have told me that yuou were having visitors." she whispered.

"I didn't knew I would have visitors and you kinda didn't give me a chance to say anything." he said back.

Kate bit her lip. He was right, but there was no way in hell she would tell that to him. But who cold blame her? She had spent a whole day without touching him, so it was obvious that the only thing on her mind was take him to his room and-

"Kate. Earth calls Kate. You back with us."

"What? Yes. I wondered around. What were you saying?"

He gave her a smile, like he knew exactly what she was thinking.

"I was saying that Tempe and her daughter are going to stay with us for awhile. Until we can fix whatever it's going on. You're okay with that?"

"Oh, of course. Why wouldn't I be. It's your house, Castle." she saw Brennan raise an eyebrow trough the corner of her eye.

"Okay... Tempe, for tonight we'll just get you to eat something and get you settled on the guest room. Tomorrow we can talk. I think I still have Alexis cribb. I'll go get it. You still rememver where the guest room is right? You already know, what's mine it's yours." he gave Tempe a carefull smile. "While you get yourself comfortable I'll take care of dinner and I'll get Alexis cribb for you."

Brennan got up and looked at Rick "Thank you, Rick." she grabbed the stroller and tiredly walked torwards the stairs. Very carefully she took Christina from the stroller and carried her up, leaving Rick and Kate alone.

Kate turned to Rick with both hands on her hips. She could feel a story between those twp and although she knew that there was absolutly no reason for her to be jeaulous- because honestly, the woman and a baby and was in trouble the last thing she would be thinking was Rick -she felt the tugging of jeaulousy on her heart.

"What?" Rick asked while walking torwards the kitchen. Kate let out a long sigh and decided to make herself comfortable. This was going to be a long night. She took of her coat and heels, walking torwards Rick's room with both in hand to change to something more comfortable. She realy didn't cared if there was a woman upstairs that she didn't knew. She was tired. She quickly took her clothes off and changed to leggins one of Rick's shirts. She took a deep breath, feeling far more comfortable.

Dinner had been... interesting. Brennan was exausted. Kate was tired. Castle didn't seem to know what to do with himself.

He hadn't pushed Brennan to talk. He wouldn't. At least not tonight.

He had helped Brenna set up Alexis old crib in the guest room after dinner. Brennan had stayed there after that.

And nowRick and Kate were sitting on his ridiculously comfortable couch with glasses of whine in their hands. Kate could sense a story coming. She could see Castle creating that atmosphere of story telling. She loved when he told her stories like that. It was kind of... magical. So she settled back in the couch and made herself comfortable.

She knew Temperace Brennan. She had read her novels. It was good. Realy good. She also knew that she was a forensic antropologist and that she helped the FBI solve cases. She had read about her. She was a genious. How could Kate compete with that? She couldn't. That scared a little bit. That and the way that Castle looked at her. With such concern. He was very protective of her. Almost the same way he was protective of herself.

But Kate also knew better than that. She also saw that the way he looked at her was the way he looked at Alexis. Like someone of his own blood.

_Stop beeing sillly, Kate. There's no reason for you to be jealous!_

So she got herself comfortable and took a sip of her wine, ready for the story that was coming.

A/N: I'll continue this, depending the response that you guys have to this chapter...


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing. Castle and Bones belong to Mr. Andrew Marlowe and the ABC studios and to Hart Hanson and Fox Studios, respectively.

_So she got herself comfortable and took a sip of her wine, ready for the story that was _coming.

"Me and Tempe go way back. From the time when I was in college." he smiled at the memory. "There was this little library, sometimes I went there to write. Nothing serious. I just sat there scribbling on a little notepad I always had in my pocket. And one day I walked in and there was Tempe. She had fallen asleep over a book in one of the desks. So against better judgement I decided to sneack up behinde her and scare the crap out of her." he chuckled "Turns out it was the other way around. Tempe was the one scaring the crap out of _me. _Did you know that she is black belt in a ridiculously amount of matial arts? Sneacking up on someone like that isn't the best idea. Next thing i knew I was face down on the floor with my arm pulled behinde my back and Tempe's foot on my back." he chuckled at the memory.

_Flashback:_

_Rick yelped as he hit the ground and someone twisted his arm behinde his back expertly._

_"What the hell? Can you get off of me?"_

_"What do you want from me?"_

_"What?"_

_"You were trying to sneack up behinde me for some reason. Why?"_

_"I was just messing around. Come on!"_

_"Messing around?" the girl that had him pinned to the floor asked confused._

_"Yes, having a little fun. Come on. I wasn't going to do anything bad."_

_"Hey, quiet in the library!" the old lady behinde the counter warned them angrily, putting a finger in front of her mouth for effect._

_"Sorry Mrs. Anderson." Rick apologised while the girl let go of him and let him sat upright._

_He straightened his clothes and cleared his troath. Trying to gather the dignity that he had left._

_Taking a deep breath and recovering from the shock of beeing thrown to the floor by a sleeping girl, he offered Tempe a charming smile._

_"Hi, I'm Rick by the way."_

_"Hello Rick. Is that your first name?"_

_"No my first name is Richard. Richard Alexander Rogers madame." he bowed and made a gesture like if he was tipping a hat._

_"I don't know what that means. My name is Temperance Brennan."_

_"Quite a name that you have Temperance. Tempe it's simpler I'm gonna call you Tempe. Can I sit with you?" he gestured to the chairs beside him._

_"My name is Temeperance and I have to study."_

_"Okay then." Rick said as he pulled a chair and sat down._

_"I just said I had to study Mr. Rodgers."_

_"Oh, I heard you. And please call me Rick. What are you studying?" he grabbed the book that was lying open on the table and red the title " 'Antrophology'! Hmmm, interesting!" _

_"You're not going away are you?"_

_" I am not, Miss Brennan. So just sit and do your studying. I'll stay here very silently." he pulled the notepad from his back pockett and started writting._

_From is peripheral vision he could see the girl, Tempe, shrug and grabb her book again. For the next coupleof hours Rick wrote and stole glimpses of the girl in front of him._

"She used to hate it when I called her Tempe." he remembered "She was in highschool when we met. Foster care. The system is tough on everyone. Somehow it was tougher on Tempe. We become realy good friends. She was like a little sister to me. Someone that I got to protect, you know. Every boy has a fase on his life that he sees himself as a knight in shiny armor that is recuing a dame in distress. Well, Tempe was anything but a dame in distress. She could probably kick Esposito's ass without even blink. I took care of her for awhile. But then I had to move. Get Back to New York. We lost contact. I think in part that was my fault. After all I wasn't Richard Alexander Rodgers anymore. My publicist said that for marketing or whatever reasons I should change my name. I become Richard Egdar Castle playboy of the best-sellers. This persona that I have to wear in parties and book signings." he took the botle of wine and filled Kate's now empty glass.

She seemed a bit startled like she hadn't noticed that the glass was empty. To tell the truth, she hadn't noticed. She always got so caught up when he told a story. Specially when he used his story telling voice. It was almost magical.

"Last time I saw her was some years back. We reconected in a writers convention. It was mandatory to go. Otherwise, and I quote, Gina would 'Make paper cuts all over me and throw me in a tank filled with piranha'. Lovely, right? Anyway, good thing I went. I got to see Tempe again. We catch up. At the time she was working with a FBI agent. Seeley Booth. Great guy. I think I met him once. He's Tempe's partner. Daddy of the little girl that's sleeping upstairs. We tried to keep in touch, but then I started shadowing you. And I simply had no time between the shadowing, the writting and the being a parent. I don't see her for about four years." he sighed and then frowned. "I'd only like to know what got Tempe so scared. She wasn't like this. Always looking behind her back as if some psycho was ready to attack her if she wasn't carefull enough. I realy hope she's okay."

He looked at her and tilted his head. "You're okay with this, right? I mean, Tempe staying here and all?"

"Of course. Why shouldn't I be?" he gave her one of his grins and leaned to kiss her. Slow and sweet and tasting like whine. Delicious.

Kate put a hand on his chest and pushed him back. "But I have to go." Putting the wine glass on the coffee table she quickly got up and stretched. The watch on her wrist informed her that it was almost midnight. When she made a move to take a step she was stopped by Rick's hand on her wrist.

"What? No!" he pouted adorably eliciting a smirk from Kate. He was such a kid. She leaned again and kissed his pouty lips.

"I have to go to work tomorrow and you have a little issue to deal with." she tried to move but Castle was still grabbing her wrist. In a move that startle her a bit, Castle pulled her to him, making her sat on his lap. Quickly putting his arms around her, so she would stay in place.

"Or" he said rolling the 'r' in his tongue "You could stay here with me. I'd still deal with my issue, as you call it, and you could go to work in the morning."

"But I don't have any-"

"Nonesense, you have plenty of clothes here. You know what else you got? A realy, realy big bathtub. Oh, and you've got me!" he remarked.

"Yes, but-" she tried to argument, but Castle wasn't giving her any chance to do so.

"And I can make you some homemade coffee and pancakes. Come on! How can you say no to fresh, homemade, delicious coffee and pancakes?"

She gave up and rested her head on his shoulder "Ok."

"And you- Wait. You said okay?"

"Yeah, okay. You win. I give up. Whatever you want Castle."

He beamed at her and gave a sloppy kiss on her lips before getting to his feet with Kate still in his arms.

She clutched to his shoulders and yelped.

"What the hell are you doing Castle?"

"Taking you to bed." he started walking torwards his bedroom. "Unless you want to sleep on the couch. And believe me, Kate. I do not want to sleep on that couch."

"And the only other option was you carrying me?" she asked incredulously.

"Well, of course."

"Castle, I can walk you know."

He winked. "Where's the fun in that?"

A/N: So yeah, I know it's shorter than the other one, but I hope you like it. You can thank to my kittens Sherlock, Serenity and Seamus that decided to wake me up today at six AM today...

Anyway, reviews are like sunshine and double rainbows ;)


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** This characters belong to their respectiver owners. Andrew W. Marlowe (Castle) and Hart Hanson(Bones). They are not mine. The only thing that belongs to me is my clmusy writing.

A/N1: So sorry for the delay. Please don't hit me.

Kate was perched on one of the bar stools in Castle's kitchen watching him moving around and getting their breakfast ready. She could almost feel the taste of Castle's delicious coffee in her tongue. Sliding down her throat.

That's when she heard hesitant steps coming down the stairs. Turning her head, she saw Brennan cradling her daughter close to her chest and hesintantly making her way torwards them.

"Morning." Kate greeted politely recieving a nod as answer.

"Hey, Tempe! You're up! Want some breakfast?" Rick asked cheerfully behinde her.

"I would like that if you don't mind."

"Grab a sit, then. Did you got any sleep last night?"

She only hummed at the question, making no real answer.

"Well I take that as a no." he sounded almost disaproving. "Anyway, just sit and eat up. Both of you."

Placing to plates full with eggs and bacon in front of them, Rick turned again to the stove to finish fixing their pancakes.

The little girl in Brenna's arms that hadn't made a sound since she got downstairs, making Kate believe that she was asleep, made her presence know by raising her tiny, chubby arm to Brennan's plate.

Brennan chuckled and grabbed her tiny hand, preventing the girl of grabbing the plate or the food in it.

"No, no. Don't do that Christine. It's hot." the girl's mother whispered at her. So much love in her words that made Kate's heart clench. She reminded of the time when her mother was still alive. The sunday brunches.

A plate get set on the table took her out of her reverie. The sweet smell of pancakes spread trough the air while Rick set the different toppings on the counter.

"Castle." Kate warned seeing him open the whipped cream can and the chocolate syrup. Armed with one on each hand, prepared to spread them trough his pancakes.

"What?" she looked at the toppings and then at him, giving him a pointed look. "Oh, come on, Kate. Why can't I put what I want in my pancakes?"

"Because last time I let you do that you ended up with a stomach ache and I had to hear your whinning all day."

He pouted at her. "Spoilsport."

Kate gave him a smile and pointed to the toppings that he was still holding. "Put down one of them, Castle."

He made a face that made Kate laugh, but obeyed. Putting down the whipped cream. He spread chocolate around his pancake twisting his wrist and stiking his tongue out in concentration.

Kate lifted one eyebrow at him, but decided to eat instead of trying to figure out what the hell Castle was doing.

"Voilá!" Castle exclamed. Kate lifted her head to look at him. He was proudly showing off the flower that he had draw with the choclate topping.

Kate pressed her lips together, trying to hide her smile from him, but failing when he present little Christine with it, making the baby girl clap her hands and bounce on her mother's lap and then try to reach for it.

Castle chuckled and took a knife and a fork from the top drawer and started cutting his pancake into little pieces.

"What are you doing?" Temperance asked looking a Castle cut expertly the pancake.

"Cutting a pancake. Jezz, Tempe. I thought you were the crazy smart one." he teased with a smile.

"Why are you cutting it?" Brennan continued.

"Because, from my experience babies choke if you give them big pieces of food."

"Isn't that for you?"

"I can share. Don't worry." he smiled and then made his way to on of the bar stools, sitting down and pushing the pancake that had been made to little pieces torwards him. "Okay, come here to eat, little one." he said extending his arms, asking for Brennan to pass the little girl.

Unconsciently, Brennan held the girl a little tighter. Unwilling to let her go.

"Oh, come on, Tempe. You seem exhausted and besides I have previous experience with cute little girls. You eat and I feed her, than she's all yours again." he gave her a fatherly smile. The ones he usually gave Alexis.

Brennan frowned, but passed him Christine who Castle promptly sit on his lap and started to feed while he babytalked and made funny faces that had Kate stiffling a laugh every once in a while.

Brennan seemed to relax upon seeing how easily Christine warmed up to Castle, giving him those adorable smiles and babbling at him.

"I left him." Brennan declared out of the blue.

"What?"

"Booth, I mean. I just left him and I don't know if I can keep this up. Not after an all summer hiding and running."

Rick was sitting on the couch while Brennan was sitting on one of his comfy armchairs. They were just sitting with the TV on some scifi show that neither of them was really watching. Something about dinossaurs, Rick didn't really know.

Kate had gone to the precinct a couple of hours ago and he decided to stay in with Tempe and Christine.

"Why did you run, Tempe? I never saw you run from anything. You usually take the bull by the horns."

"I don't know what that means."

Rick chuckled. How could he not.

"It means that you always face the situation. You never run. You throw yourself at your problems tenaciously. Stuff like that. For what I heard you beat the crap out of a mexican gang lord and made him run to his momma. What are you running from Tempe? Maybe I can help."

"I'm beeing acused of murder."

Murder?! What?!

"You what?"

"There's this serial killer that made me look like I assassinated someone. Someone that I, in the eyes of the law, had reasons to murder. So I ran."

"You left Booth, because otherwise you would be arrested." he stated. "Oh, Tempe. You can't stay out of trouble. Tell me all about it. Maybe I can help, somehow"

And so she did. She told him about the case. About how he managed to forge a video tape to incriminate her, how he managed to get rid of his ankle monitor and murdered the guy. She told him all about him.

And then she told him how her dad had convinced her that running was the best solution. How he took her and Christine to somewhere safe. How he one day a couple weeks back, when the two of them were in Texas, he just disapeered. And how she needed his help.

Castle knew that asking for help was a great deal for Tempe. She was an independent woman that always assumed that she could face the world on her own. And most of the times she could. But with this psycho, she needed his help.

Once he had joked that he was well verse in psychotic methodologies. Joked it was an ocuppational hazert. Right now he dind't felt like joking. Tempe was like the sister he never had.

"What about your brother?"

"I wasn't going to bother Russ. He has a wife and two little girls. I'm not about to let them get hurt."

He nodded. Of course she wouldn't

"Don't worry Tempe. I'll get you out of this one."

"You're my last hope, Rick."

And just that. The desperate, pleading tone of her voice convince him that he was going to take her out of this one. He was going to make it right again. He could do that for Tempe. He _would_ do that.

Rick was in his study trying to figure out a way to get Tempe out of this one when his pone rang.

After a quick look at the caller ID he answered it.

"Castle!" Beckett snapped.

"Well, hello to you too. What's up?"

"What's up?! Well, you forgot to mention that your friend was a wanted criminal. That is _what's up_!"

"Wow, wow, wow. Tempe is _not_ a wanted criminal. She was framed by this psycho guy." he defended.

"It doesn't matter! In the eyes od the law she _is_ a criminal."

"Why are you so mad at me?"

"Because you are an accessorie now. You're harboring a _wanted criminal_. What were you thinking?!"

"First of all Tempe is not a criminal. She didn't murder no one. Second, she's family. That's what I had in my head. Besides I didn't _know_ the police was after her."

Beckett went silence.

"Kate, are you going to give Tempe to the cops?"

"I _am_ the cops, Castle. Don't you get it?! I like Temperance. I really do. But you gave a cop knowledge of a fugitive. What do you expect me to do?"

"Wait."

"What?"

"Just wait. Don't call this in. I'll figure a way to fix it. I'll fix it."

"Castle. You're not a cop. There's nothing you can do."

"Tempe's family. You take care of your family. I'll fix it. Give me something. Some time. A week maybe?"

"Castle, I can't-"

"Then you'll live Christine motherless. Is that what you want to do, Kate? Give me a week."

Oh, this was a low blow and he knew it. He hated himself a little bit for doing that.

Kate was silent for a while.

"No. I'll give you forty eight hours, Castle. That's all you get. No more, no less. You hear me?"

He sighed. He would have to work with that. He could make it in fourty eight hours.

"Okay. I can do it."

"And Castle."

"Yes?"

"I won't be going to the loft in the next fourty eight hours."

"Kate-"

"No. You wanted time. You got time. I can't be near doctor Brennan. I'm a cop. I can't. I'll have to report it."

"Okay. Okay, but after that you'll come back, right?" he hated it. Right now he hated the all situation. Tempe in trouble to her neck. Not beeing able to see Kate for the next fourty eight hours, but above that he hated the insecurity in his voice. The slight hitch of panick when he asked if she was coming back. This was the first real thing in the way of their relationship. This would make them or brake them.

"Of course." and just the softeness in her voice quieted his heart.

_Of course._

Kate was in this with him. All the way.

"I love you." he blurted out.

He heard the slight hitch in her breath. Oh, shit. He didn't mean to- He really had to stop blurting out stuff like this.

"Me too."

_Oh._

It wasn't quite the words but it was the closest she ever came to actually saying it.

"I know." he reassured her. Because he did. He knew that she loved him. Even if she wasn't quite ready to say it.

"Bye, Castle."

"Until the day after tomorrow detective."

Before the line went dead he heard her laugh and roll her eyes.

Yeah, he could hear her roll her eyes. So he put the phone down with a silly grin.

Kate would be roally pissed at him after all of this was over. But Tempe was family too and if there was a thing Castle knew is that you take care of your family. No matter what. No matter how bad it gets or how much trouble you get yourself into. Family always comes first.

_Family comes first._

And with that he knew what he had to do next.

He had to tell Booth. Tell him that Tempe and Christine were okay.

The thing is, he couldn't just call him. Psycho guy was lord and master of technology. That was his home field.

He had to meet Booth in person. He'd fly to Washington. Bring Booth here, since he couldn't take the girls there. He was FBI. He was a dad. He had spent an entire summer without Tempe and Christine and Castle knew just too well how that felt like. Not beeing able to see the person you love for the summer. Not even knowing if they were okay.

He was going to bring him here. Make it okay for him and for Tempe again. Make it right. Get her safe.

Because family comes first.

A/N2: So, there ya go!

And I'll try to make this come faster someway. You all have to thank to the royall boring-ness I was having in my Geography and History classes. They allowed me to write most of this chapter and the beggining of the next. So yey!

And I want to thank to all of you who reviewed and asked for this next chapter. And if I ever spend this much time without updating don't hesitate in kicking my ass.

Previously I said that reviews were like sunshine and double rainbows. Thanks to **Shannon Jethro Gideon Snape** now I know that reviews are like Nathan Fillion cooking me dinner and giving me a shoulder rub. So I stand corrected. Thank you for indulging me.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** This is where I disclaim stuff, so I'm disclaiming the ownership of Castle's and Bones's characters. THEY ARE NOT MINE.

Booth sat in his office throwing a tennis ball against the wall. He didn't even know how long he had been doing it. It was almost a reflex now the motion of throwing the ball and catch it when it bounced off the wall. He didn't even had to look. The only thing on his mind right now was the way Bones had taken their daughter and run away. He couldn't get past the sense of betrayal. And of course there was hurt there too and also the pain of not beeing with her for almost three months now.

A knock on the door startled him and made him miss the ball when it was coming back, hitting him on the shin.

_Ouch._

He turned around on his chair, a little annoyed, to see who was at his door.

A young kid that had started there about two weeks (after Bones had left, his brain helpfully hadded) ago peeked inside his office with an unsure smile.

"What?" Booth asked, maybe a little bit too forcefully.

"I- I just wanted to let you know that there is a Mr. Castle downstairs. He says he's a writer and he wants to ask you a couple of questions for a book that he's writing. Should I send him up or..." the kid trailed off.

Castle?! Whatt kind of name was that? And why did it sounded soo familiar?

He searched his brain, but nothing come up.

"Tell him I don't have time and that I'm not interested."

The kid nodded. He was about to close the door when he snapped his fingers like he just remembered something.

"Oh, and he said that I should tell you that Joy and Christine said hi and that they couldn't wait to see you again."

His chest squeezed painfully when the name of his daughter was mentioned. He really missed his baby girl. But who the hell was Joy?

The only Joy he knew was that girl in the dinner he and Bones usualy went for breakfast or lunch. Oh and Bones birthname was Joy, but-

His brain clicked. Richard Castle. It had to be him. Tempe talked about him a couple of times. He was a writer and a very good friend of Tempe's.

Maybe he knew where they were. Maybe he could help.

He refrained himself of setting his hopes very high.

"Okay. Send him in."

The kid gave him a confused look, but was smart enough not to ask.

He sat upright in his chair and straightened his clothes. Ran a hand trough his short hair and breathed slowly.

No reason to get his hopes up. Maybe they were to different people interely. Maybe this Castle guy was another Castle and he got the wrong Special Agent.

Still. It was worth the try. Bones and Christine were worth it. They were worth everything. Even after they run away. Even then. They _are_ worth it.

This was good. This had to be a good thing, right?

A knock on the door annouced that this Castle guy was here.

A man walked in with a joyful smile like this was the best thing ever.

His brown hair was flopping into his forehead and his clothes - very expensive clothes - were wrinckled like he had just gotten out of a plane.

The man, Castle, extended his hand for him to shake.

Booth had learned from his grandfather that you can judge a man's character by the way they shake hands. He could see that Richard Castle was probably a good man. Firm handshake without squeezing or trying to shake harder than him. Good.

"Hi. Rick Castle. And for what I get you're Special Agent Seeley Booth." he said with a smile. He looked... proud of himself. Like he had ucomplished some great goal.

Rick Castle looked him up and down and then made a little approving sound.

Weird.

"Tempe did good. Really good."

Booth's heart stopped.

_Tempe._

"Do you know where she is?"

"Yes." Castle plopped down on one of his chairs.

"Where?"

"Someplace safe. Don't worry. But I need your help. The police is looking for her. My girlfriend happens to be a part of the NYPD. She gave me 48 hours to fix this, so you have to help me fix it and clear Tempe's name."

"How do you plan on doing that?"

"First of all let's take you to her and then we'll figure something out. Tempe's brain would be very welcomed in this."

_Take you to her._

He would be able to see her again. He would be able to see his little girl again. And that was all he needed right now. Just be able to see them again.

"Okay. When do we go?"

Castle's face opened in a smile.

"Right now."

Brennan got up form the couch and passed the living room. She hated this. Hated not beeing able to do nothing. Sit back while the others dealt with it.

Rick had left earlier saying that he was going to search for her knight in shiny armor, whatever that meant.

Angela used to say that Booth was her knight in shiny FBI armor. At the time she had snorted at the idea, but right now looking at the little girl playing with some old toys that belonged to Rick's daughter she could believe it. Booth had, in some way, saved her. And not just when there was some deranged person going after her. He gave her a family again. The only thing she tought she would never get back.

"Momma." the little girl called. Temperance looked at her to see a big block with the letter D in it. Then the little girl looked around "Daddy?"

She wanted to know where her daddy was.

_Oh, Christine._

That broke Tempe's heart a little. No, not break. Crush. The heart was a muscle that could not be broke just crushed. It was heart crushing.

She remebered when Booth had corrected her on that, saying that the heart was a muscle. That it could not break. Just be crushed. She remembered the surge of pride she felt then. Knowing that she was rubbing off on him, like Rick would put it.

She missed him badly.

Tempe sat down on the floor next to her daughter.

"We'll see daddy soon." she runned a hand trough the girl's curly hair " I hope."

Kate looked around for something else to do. There was nothing. She had already finished all of her paperwork and there was no more work to do.

Normally this would be a good thing. It was something she had gotten used to. Finish her paperwork quickly and then go home to Rick and just be. Let go of Detective Beckett for a while and just be Kate. The one that liked to have dinner with her boyfriend and curl up with him on the couch to watch some scifi movie that he discovered on his DVR.

Today she wasn't that eager to leave the precinct.

Castle was helping is friend and she only hoped he wouldn't get into trouble.

She sighed and started colecting her stuff to leave. With one last look to Castle's usual chair she turned around and left the precinct, taking her time to get home, choosing the longest way.

When she finally got to her building she decided to take the stairs instead of the elevator.

She fished her keys for her pocket and twisted them in the lock, opening the door. As soon as she did so, she sensed that something was very wrong. She withdraw her gun and aimed it.

Slowly, she entered her living room. Clear.

Kate was turning around to check her kitchen when something hit her full force in the back of the head, making her fall to the floor and sending her door flying to the opposite side of the room.

She moaned and before she could do anything else a man was pointing a glock at her face.

"Hello, detective. How nice to meet you." the man smiled at her. "Oh, but how rude of me. I should introduce myself. I'm Pelant. Doctor Brennan might have mentioned me before?! And now I'm sure your boyfriend will bring her too me when I show him what I've got."

He made a circle around her, putting himself between her and her fallen gun.

"But first. You and I are going to have a little fun."

**A/N:** So I just decided to bring Pelant to the picture too and, you know, make everybody hate him a little bit more. Also it's very hard to write Booth. Had some trouble with that and I'm not completely happy with it. Ugh!

And the next chapters will be roughly the same size of this one. This way I can keep some sort of schedule to post this.

Anyway, thanks for reading and please review, so I can see if I'm going in the right direction with this.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any characters, places, books or others that may be refered here. No copyright infrigment intended. I make zero proffit with this. It's for entertainment only. Castle its characters belong to Andrew W. Marlowe and th ABC Studios. Bones and its characters belong to Hart Hanson and FOX Studios.

Booth got in the lift up to Castle's appartment feeling somewhat uncomfortable while Castle beside had a frown on his face dialing the same number on his phone again and again and again.

"Something wrong?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the lights above the elevator doors shining the numbers of the floor.

"Kate doesn't pick up the phone. She's kinda mad at me, but she always picks up the phone. Always."

He watched as Castle dialed the number again. After a couple seconds he made a little exasperated sound.

Just as he was going to say something to the writer the lift came to a stop making his heart flip in his chest.

Castle got out and led him to his front door, fishing the keys out of his pocket he opened it while never taking his eyes off his phone.

The door swung open and Booth held his breath.

Castle seemed unaware of his nervousness. He wlked in the loft calling out.

"Tempe! Got a surprise for you!" and then he retreated to a room that was separated from the rest of the houses by bookshelves.

Man up, Booth!

He walked in the loft and closed the door behinde him.

"Booth?!" he heard a breathy voice whisper behinde him.

Oh, God. _Bones._

He turnedd around to see his partner clutching their daughter in her arms.

"Bones." he said in a breath.

And suddently it didn't matter that she had run away right after they baptized their daughter. It didn't matter that Pelant was after her. The only thing that matter in that moment was that he hadn't seen them for so long and he missed them so badly.

So he covered the living room in four long strides and reached the bottom of the stairs. And then he had his arms around Bones and Christine and he could hear them breathing and he could feel their warmth and it was okay again, because his baby girl and the woman he loves- still loves with all his heart, sometimes so much it hurts -where here and they were okay. It would be okay again.

It felt so good.

All of him felt so good. His arms where awkwardly envoloping her in a hug, trying not to crush their daughter. And it felt so good.

Brennan drew a deep breath smelling him all over like a blanckett, making her feel warm and loved. Giving her the chance to breath again after three months of the one person she loved so much in this world and that wasn't blood of her blood. The one person that made her want to do silly things that she believed useless like writing a date on a paper and burning it with a candle so it would come true one day. Things like baptizing her daughter and get married.

And right now in this moment she knew she would marry this amazing extraordinary guy. With all his protectivness and his silly drink hats and reading comics in the bathtub and cooking omeletes naked. Because she knew he was hers. She had him. And for how irrational it might sound she wanted to marry him and take claim of him all to herlself. Show everybody else that she had him.

And then he was kissing her. Warm and witn so abandon that it crushed her heart. And when he stopped she chased after him, don't wanting to let go. Not letting him go ever again. And it was irrational and silly, yes, but still. Three months really take their toll on you.

And then he they were both breathless she whispered the words. If someone had told her that she would be doing this she would laugh in their face, but right now the only thing that really mattered was him. Only him.

"Marry me."

His heart stopped at the words. There was absolutely no way Temperance Brenna had just said that No way.

"What?"

"Marry me. I-"

The little girl made herself known by screaming "Daddy!" and throwing her little arms around his neck.

_Daddy._

Oh God. He had missed his girls so bad. He was so glad they were okay and breathing and he knew. He_knew _that latter on he would be a bit mad and a bit heartbroken and they would have to talk about it. Get it all out so it wouldn't poison them. Their partnership and everything else. But right now, he had his little Christine in his arms with her arms squeezing his neck and her head burried in the side of his neck and he had Bones smiling at him, warm and open, and she had just proposed him. She wanted to marry him.

_She wanted to marry him._

Only the thought made him dizzy with happiness, because Temperance Brennan - who thought that marriage was such a misogonist thing, that it was old fashioned and that it was uselless - wanted to marry him.

And he had missed his girls so much. So very much. So he did the only thing he thought of. He said yes. Quick and in a hopeful breath, afraid that she would take it back.

But she didn't. a beaming smile came across her- oh so beautiful -face leaving him breathless once again. Making him clutch his daughter just a little bit tighter.

And he knew that even with all this bumps in the road, some of those bumps so high that felt like hills, but even with all of this bumps in the road they would be okay. They would be okay and that was enough for now.

She guided him to the couch and they both sat down as he heard the front door being shut. Although his brain had registered it, he didn't realy paid that much attention. His eyes couldn't leave his partner.

They would be alright.

She wasn't picking up her phone. She wasn't picking up her phone and he knew - he _knew_ - for a fact that something should be terribly wrong.

Beckett always picked up her phone. No matter how mad she might be at him, she always picked up or sent him a text message saying that she was fine for him to stop calling. Something.

But this time all he had recieved was a big deal of nothing. No call back and no text message with a snarky response, demanding for him to leave her alone. Absolutely nothing. And that was scaring him. Big time. So he decieded to do what he used to do. He followed her.

Castle paid the cabbie when they stopped in front of her appartment.

The truth is that she probably was okay, but that didn't prevent him for taking the satirs because the elevator was just to damn slow. It didn't prevent him from monting the steps two at the time, making him sweat in his tailored dress shirt. It didn't prevent his heart to start beating erratically in his chest pumping adrebaline to is veins.

So instead of getting his act together and push the suffocating panic down- panic over nothing, he was just being silly over protective Castle, nothing else -he pounded on the door with his clenched fist crying out her name over and over again.

It was fine. He was overreacting. He was sure, but-

But you can never know for sure. It's not like in the movies or in the books that when someone you love is in danger you feel something in the pit of your stomach or you got dizzy or had a bad feeling or whatever. In real life things weren't like that. He had learned that when Alexis went missing in that mall. He didn't feel her daughter walking away and hiding. He didn't sence that something might be wrong, he just kept on trying stupid hats. One of the reasons he didn't wear a hat nowadays. And it might silly, but he was a little overprotective of his family. And Kate was family, even before they get together, even before she was shot and before he foolishly went to the Hamptons with his second ex-wife. Even then Kate and the guys at the twelfth were already family.

So he kept pounding on the door. But nothing. There was no answer.

Maybe she went for a run or somewhere else. The precinct? He checked his clock. No, not the precinct. And her car was outside. Maybe she had taken her bike or- or something-

And then Kate's front door neighbour opened the door and looked at him odly.

"I'm realy sorry if I disturbe you Mrs. Meyer."

"Oh, you're Rick, right? Your cousin left something for you. He took Detective Beckett with him somewhere and told me that if you came here I should give it to you.

His cousin?! What the hell? And he took Kate?! Oh, God!

Mrs. Meyer went back inside the house and returned with a thick envelope in her hands.

"Here you go. Such a nice boy. So charming, your cousin. A bit odd, but charming non the less."

Castle carefully opened the envelope retreaving a single sheet of paper from it and- _oh God_ - it was written in blood.

_TH2 BR3GHT M3ND F4R TH2 B5LL2T WR2NCH2D H21RT WH2R2 TH2 F1LL2N H2R4 L32S 1SL22P F4R2V2R._

Wha- what the hell was that? He didn't understand any of it. It had to be some kind of code or something, but-

In that moment his phone buzed.

Unidentified number? What?

He absently opened the text message.

_I hope you got my little message to you, Mr. Castle. A seven-year-old could figure it out. You better start trying because otherwise your pretty little detective will die. And I will be very slow doing it. _

_Pelant_

Castle clenched his fist around his cell phone and watched as the screen went black and then a green skull appeared on it.

_Oh, God!_

A/N: Arg. Booth is so hard to write. I write some sentence and then have to delete it 'cause I think "That's not very Boothy." Aaaannddddd I just made Brennan kinda propose to him, so yeah, not sure if that was very smart of me, but whatever. Also that means that I get to write a sequel with their wedding (if you guys want me too). YEY!

And point for who figures out the code and what it means!

AND I DIND'T HAVE TIME TO EDIR THIS!


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **Andrew W. Marlowe and Hart Hanson owns these characters (Castle's and Bones's, respectively) and I own my crappy computer without Microsoft Office Word. I'm writing this on WordPad right now *add disgusted face here*

Rick stumbled into the loft clutching the piece of paper in one hand, still not quite believing in what was writen in _blood_ -OH GOD! - in it. And of course he had figured the mensage out within minutes. His brain was still working a hundred thousand miles per hour what didn't help him at all right now.

Tempe and Booth were perched in the barstools at his kitchen counter holding hands and speaking quietly to each other; Booth holding little Christine that was now fast asleep.

When they turned, Rick could see Booth's FBI training kicking in as he reached for the non-existent weapon that should have been perched on his hip.

An that. THAT was precisly their problem. They were unarmed. They had absolutly no leverage in this twisted sick game that psycho guy was playing.

Tempe slowly got up and walked torwards him.

"Rick, what's wrong?"

"He's got Kate."

He said it in a breath and so low that he was sure that she couldn't have herd him. He was afraid to voice the words aloud, because that would make them real. He knew the meaning and the power of words. Words build and destroyed kingdoms, words could make you fall in love, words could take you down merciless and stab you in the back while laughing. He was a writer. His job was to use words. To use them just the right way to make the reader feel what he made up in his mind, but he knew that one should always be wary of words because one could not put his trust in them. Words were like a super-power - he like to think that. That words gave him super-powers and he could be a hero - but the truth was that words went both ways. Good and bad. Black, white, grey and green and purple and all the other fucking colours.

In the end of the day, words sucked!

Temperance's face change drastically from happy to horrified.

He hated to have to do this, but it was needed. He couldn't lose Kate. Not now. Not after all the freezers and tigers and gunfights and stupid missed opurtunities and all the hurting each other without really meaning too. They were supposed to have their time to be happy now. Right?!

"Are you sure?"

Castle nodded and gave her the piece of paper.

She knitted her eyebrow for half a second and then her eyebrows shot up and her eyes landed on her family sitting in the kitchen.

She walked over to them and showed the paper to Booth. He looked at it without understanding.

"The bright mind for the bullet wrenched heart where the fallen hero lies asleep forever." Tempe read it aloud.

Booth's eyebrows shot up.

"Tempe's the bright mind" he found himself mumbling, his words tripping over each other "Kate's the bullet wrenched heart 'cause she was shoot. Montgomery was our captain. He died protecting Kate. He died a hero. He's on the cemetery and Mr. Creepy Psycho guy wants to trade Kate for Tempe."

"No." Booth shook his head.

Rick seemed to wake up then. Wake from that turpor and numbness of disbelieving.

"We have to do something. Right now! He's gonna hurt Kate!"

"I'm not letting her get in the line of fire! Especially when I just got her back!" Booth bit out.

"Well I only got Kate a few months ago so I think we should consider our options here, because I'm not that big a fan of having Tempe in the line of fire either, but I have to save Kate!"

He stoped with a glint in his eye. And sudently he had an idea. It was dumb and probably it wouldn't work and they would all get killed, but he had to give it a try.

"How good a shot are you, Agent Booth?"

Kate was sitting down on the green grass waiting for something to hapen. She hated this place. This exact place where she had been shot. And to top it Pelant was making her sit next to Montgomery's grave. Her Captain. She realy missed him, but right now, with a gun pointed right at her brains it didn't seem like a good time to mourn over her Captain.

Right now she was sick worried about whatever stupid thing Castle might pull off trying to save her. Stupid. This guy was ending up getting both her and Castle killed. Everyone was dead. She couldn't do that to Alexis and to Martha. Oh, God! She absolutely couldn't do this to her dad. He wouldn't be able to take it. If he broke again, he would fall in a downword spiral and he would drink himself to dead.

She tried to move her head and looked at the man that was obviously calm and had everything calculated.

Man, she would _love_ to throw this bastard in lock up and let him rott away for until the end of times there.

She needed to think. Think good and think hard. Come up with a plan to get herself out of this one.

But the thing was that she wasn't used to pull herself out of messes like these anymore. She always had Castle by her side to help her think and don't let her panic.

_Oh, Castle._

But before she could answer anything she heard grass beeing crushed by heavy footsteps. That soft noise, almost inaudible. She lifted her head half an inch to see Castle arriving with Dr. Brennan.

What the hell was he doing?

"Okay, Pelant. I'm here and I have Dr. Brennan with me. He said putting himself between Pelant and Brennan, blocking her from their sight.

"Hello, Mr. Castle. I see you keep up with your part of the deal."

"It's not a deal. It's blackmail." Castle spit out.

Pelant was silent for a couple of nerve wrecking moments and then he spoke "Whatever pleases you. This is how it's gonna go. Dr. Brennan will walk torwards me very slowly and with her palms clasped in front of her body. I don't want her going all karate kid on me. And then, when I have Dr. Brennan to play with for a while I'll give you the lovely Detective."

"Well I think that's not such a hot idea. This is how this little negotiation is going to go down. You will put your gun down and very slowly walk away and leave us alone. Otherwise Agent Booth will put a round into that smartypants brain of yours and he'l live your derandgedness along with your brain matter scattered all around the floor."

Pelant squinted at him and made a little disapointed noise at the back of his troath. "Well, that's not very nice of you."

"I'm giving you a chance to walk away Pelant."

Pelant took a step back and if Kate didn't had her hands and feet securely taped behinde her back she could've probably kicked him to the floor.

Pelant droped his gun to the grass where it fell with a soft thud and backpedaled.

"You win this round, but just so you know. Now that my game has so many more players this is going to be the double of the fun!" he smiled derandgedly at them. Castle moved torwards her and slowly, without ever taking his eyes from Pelant he help her up and then-

Then a loud gunshot had Castle throwing her back to the floor and had Brennan ducking and it was all to quick and to real and her brething was hard and Castle's eyes seemed panicked as they stumbled up and down her torso, but there was no increasing bloodstain and her heart was not bleeding out all of her blood.

He gave a huge relieved breath and looked back, but Tempe was also okay. After a couple minutes he kissed her forehead tenderly with so much loved that made her heart constrict in her chest and a smile appear in her face. He slowly and warily got up and then the horror show was plain visible.

Pelant was lying lifeless on the clean grass, his blood pooling all around him. One shot to the chest. Center of mass. He bleed out and died in the minutes that took them to get up.

Castle untapped and hugged her tightly. After he had squezzed the whole incident out of her body, he took her hand and led her back to where Tempe was standing a little lost.

"Did Booth...?" Kate started, to what Brennan shook her head.

"The angle is all wrong. Booth's standing there she pointed to behinde her "and the shot came from there." she pointed uphill to the west.

"Then who?"

Beckett shook her head.

"Guess we'll never know."

"I have to call this in, so I would advise for you to go. I realy like you, but I can't have a wanted fugitive in a crime scene."

"Obviously." Brennan said with a short nod. And then she walked to where a man - Booth, she suposed - was standing. She watched has Beckett hugged him hard and they left the graveyard hand in hand.

Rick smiled and finally - FINALLY - he kissed her. It was so good to kiss him. And now she could, so she was sure to make the best of it. And then, like he had suddently reminded of something he pulled back and started looking her up and down.

"Are you injured? He wrote the note in _blood._ God, Kate. I thought, I thought-"

"Hey, I'm okay now! Don't worry about it, okay?" she kissed him and then asked for his phone. She hated to ruin the moment but she realy had to call this in.

He just smiled and handed it to her.

They would be okay. After a talk about showing up unarmed and without almost zero back up. They would solve it out and come out stronger. So she smiled and pecked his cheek.

He had promissed not to do it again to his daughter. He had and he had realy tried, but he knew that even Tempe couldn't catch the bastard lying lifeless on the green grass right now. And he was her dad. It was up to him to put him down like the animal he was.

He looked up to the sky and apologised to God.

Tempe wouldn't find out this time. She would suspect, but he would be long gone and he would prepare his aliby so strong that not even his super-cientist-smarter-than-most would be able prove anything.

Because this time he realy had tried. But people like Pelant needed the punishment made by man's justice and not some court that could screw shit up.

"I'm sorry Tempe." he murmured to the wind and then he spinned on his heels and walked away. He already had a plan about that riffle. He would take it down to pieces and spread them. Sell one, throw one to the river and another to the sweer. One in the trash and other throw of the window while he was speeding on the highway. He was smart enough not to be dumb about it.

No one would know and Tempe and her family - the family that she had accidently made for herself - would finaly be safe.

And in a couple of months he would be back to their lives, when all had calmed down and the chances of Booth punching him went down senventy per cent, at least.

He had to put an ending to this. This wasn't wrong. He protected his family and that was all tha mattered.

Max entered his stolen car and drove. He got rid of the riffle in various parts of town and after he returned the car to its owner, he did what he did best. He disapeared from New York city leaving no trace of him behinde.

**A/N: **Okay, for starters I am so proud of the person who figured out my little pathetic attempt of a riddle (btw, RIDDLE makes me think of Harry Potter), so 1000 points for Gryffindor! And don't be afraid to talk to me. If you answer it anonymously how am I supposed to congratulate you for your geniuos?!

And second: HELL YEAH I BLEW UP PELANT'S HEART INTO FLIPPIN' SHREADS! AND I GOT MAX BACK! WOHOOO! And now there's only the Epilogue left y'all!

And for my long absense these are the excuses I came up with.

1. School 2. Family Dutties 3. Sickness and 4. OH MY FUCKING GAWD I JUST FINISHED LOOKING FOR ALASKA BY JOHN GREEN AND OMG, NO I'M STILL EMOTIONALY TRYING TO ADAPT TO ALL THE AWSOMENESS! WHAT? YOU HAVEN'T RED IT YET? SHAME ON YOU! GO READ IIIIIIITTT! (yeah I'm shamelessly advertising it. whatever.)

And finally, if you have any book advice for me or recomendation or whatever just say it 'cause I have this thing on a little Looney Tunes notebook (yeah I own a Looney Tunes notebook with Silvester and Twittey) that I like to call 'My Book Bucket List' - books for my library and for me to read before I die - and the more the merrier!

(Yes I am a book nerd. Shocker!)

P.S. I don't know if you noticed by I suck at the mistery/solving stuff thing! Whatever, maybe I should keep writing pointless stuff with kids in it. Since Imma be a kindergarten teacher it ain't creepy. IT AIN'T!


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **Ah ahah ahahahah ah... yeah, still not mine. Bones belongs to Hart Hanson and the FOX Studios and Castle belongs to Andre W. Marlowe and the ABC Studios. Are we clear?! Good.

Castle was sitting in a chair next to the hospital bed where Kate was sitting on.

He was still worried about her and he could tell that she was starting to get annoyed by it.

"I'm fine." she said again, the once reassurancing tone of her voice turning into annoyance.

"But-"

"No buts, Castle! He cut me a little. Nothing else. I'm fine! And now shut up or you'll be going home alone. You hear me?!"

He shut up.

He knew she was okay. Only a cut in her neck that the bastard himself had taken care off after making.

Fucking pshyco, cutting Kate up. If he wasn't dead, Castle would strangle him himself.

Kate squeezed his hand with a smile.

"It's okay Castle. Stop beeing dramatic. It was just a little blood. Most of the time I was passed out. I don't even remember what happened exactly, so no need to worry really."

He huffed.

"He cut your troath!"

"Just a little. You heard the doctor. Nothing to worry about. I'm fine." she said glaring at him when he opened his mouth to answer back.

"Miss Beckett." the doctor asked coming into the room or better the bed were Kate was that was only separated from all the other beds by some flimsy cortins.

"Detective." she corrected the doctor with a serious look that made him smile.

"Yes, right. Detective Beckett. It seems like you are good to go. Whomever did the job on your neck did a clean job. There will be no infectiom hazard since you keep the wound clean."

The doctor gave Kate some papers for her to sign and then left the room, trusting that they could show themselves out.

"See. I'm fine."

"Whatever." he answered. The emotional trauma of finding Kate's freacking blood composing a fucking menssage had put him in a bad mood.

Kate smiled and took his hand. In public.

His head snapped to her. His surprised showing in the lines of his face.

Holding hands was nothing much really, but since they wanted their relationship out of the press for as long as they could they made sure to keep all the PDA at a minimum. Kate didn't even allowed him to hold her hand in public. That's why his reaction.

"There's no one paying attention." se whispered like she was telling him a secret, a teasing smile on the corner of her mouth.

God. He wanted to kiss her. Kiss that smug smile that she had whenever she surprised him away.

She squeezed his hand.

"Later." she whispered, apparently knowing exactly what he was thinking.

He smiled. They would be alright. She was fine. And there was no way he was letting go of her hand in the near future, wether she liked it or not.

Because now that the suffocating panic of losing her had gone away, he would make sure to enjoy every single moment of their time together. If this little experience - that he hoped would never ever be repeated again - had thought him something was that he could lose her has easily has a snap of some psycho's fingers. He intended to enjoy their time together and save every second of it in his memory as best as he could.

They were finally home.

Booth was standing on Christine's doorway watching Brennan make sure that everything was how it was supposed to be before leaving the little girl to sleep.

"We need to talk." he told her when they were both at a safe distance from the room, so Christine wouldn't wake up.

Brennan nodded.

Booth took her hand and guided her downstairs, torwards their living room. He slumped down on the couch, bringing her with him.

"You can't do that again." he stated calmly.

"I know."

"Do you, though?" he looked her in the eyes. He needed for her to understand how serious he was right now.

This was serious. This was real. This was the thing that could breack them, although, in the end, it wouldn't breack them. They were stronger than this and seven years together had brought them a lot of shit and they had always got trough it. If this went like he wanted, they would get trough this and a couple of years from now, when they looked back, it would be just another bump on the road.

He took a deep breath, when she didn't answer. But he wasn't about to quit. So he tried again. Tried to make her understand.

"Do you know how it was to spend three months without you. Without my daughter. Not even knowing if you were alive or not?! And it was not only me you hurted. You hurt all of us, Brennan. Have you thought about Angela and Hodgins. The troubles you put Cam into?! And you hurt Parker too. He spent all the entire summer asking about you and his little sister. What was I supposed to say to my own son?!"

He wasn't shouting. All in him said that he should be shouting, but he didn't. Because he was not like his dad. He was not a bully.

At work he had to be one, but at home he was a dad and he tried to be a good one. He was not shouting.

"I know. I didn't want to do it, Booth. I needed to. It was the most rational decison at the moment."

Rational. Of Course.

"You can't just run away from all of us just because it seems like the most rational thing to do, Bones. That's not how it works. You know that. Not all in life is rational. And if you're so afraid that running away seems like the best option, you take me with you. We're partners and that's what partners do!"

"I couldn't, Booth. I couldn't take you with me without putting you in danger."

"Our room blew up!"

Bones startled at that.

_Good_. He had to cause an impact.

"What?" she asked with a shaky voice.

"Pelant put a bomb in our alarm clock. It blew up! That was part of what I've been doing all summer. Rebuilding our room."

"He blew up our room." she whispered.

"Yes."

"If I hadn't runned away, we would all be dead." she stated.

_What?!_ Not what he was going for here.

"You could have been killed." she whispered, her eyes widening and her mouth falling into a little horrified 'O'.

Maybe the shocking effect was not ruined.

Before he knew it she was hugging him tightly.

"Okay. I get it. It was not fair. I shouldn't have done it. I won't do it again. Ever."

"Good." he whispered, rubbing soothing circles on her back. "Now about the you proposing me thing." He said with a smile.

"Yes. I will marry you."

"Nope."

She startled, her mouth opening and her eyes widening. She let go of him.

"What?"

"Nope. _I_ wil marry _you_. Because you're the one who proposed. Just like I said you would."

She smiled, open and honest and _there._ She was finally there with him. They were on the same page and this was just another bump in the road.

Bones got up and took his hand.

"Lets go to bed." she said with a little twinkle in her eyes.

"I'm not tired."

"Don't worry. We're not going to sleep." she said, smiling and pulling him along.

He smiled back at her. The weight in his shoulders slowly lifting and the pain that had been living in his chest during the past summer disapeering.

"Hey, Bones." she looked at him. "I told you so."

She smacked his chest and pulled him upstairs with a little more conviction.

Everything was okay or it would be okay soon, because his girls were finally home.

**A/N: **I'm so sorry for this sucky chapter but it is the last one. This crossover is finito! I hope you enjoyed it and I might do a sequel.

Thanks for all who satyed until the very last end and to evryone who favorited and followed.


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